Science / Medicine : Date of Oldest Books Pushed Back

Pages found on American Indian pottery prove books existed in the Americas 500 years earlier than previously thought and that Indians were sophisticated long before Europeans arrived, a New York professor said last week. The discovery was made about a month ago by Marilyn Goldstein of Long Island University. Goldstein, an art history professor, was viewing the private artifact collection of a person who wants to remain anonymous.

The 10-inch-tall ceramic vessel was created between AD 600 and 900 by the Maya Indians, once a highly developed civilization based in what is now the Yucatan, Belize and northern Guatemala. The pottery’s surface features glyphs and figures painted red, brown and black on a beige background. The figures may represent a young nobleman witnessing mythological events. Goldstein said other scholars will have to translate the text.

“The absolute fact is that we have found a written book 500 years earlier than any existing book from the Americas,” Goldstein said. “It’s already a very sophisticated book. It’s not a beginning book. We know there had to be much earlier examples. I’m saying the earliest book had to be AD 300 to look like this by 600. I would not be surprised if additional discoveries push it even earlier,” possibly before Christ, she said.